Machine for plucking pelts.



Patented Oct. 3|, I899. J. W. SUTTON.

MACHINE FOR PLUCKlNG PELTS.

(Application filed flept. 8, 1898.)

3 Sheets-Sheet (No Model.)

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(No Model.)

Patented Oct. 31, I899.

V J. W. SUTTON. MACHINE FORPLUCKING PELTS.

(Application filed Sept. 8, 1898.)

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No. 635,879. Patented Oct. 3|, i899.

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MACHINE FOR PLUCKING PELTS.

(Application filed Sept. 8, 1898.) (No Model.)

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below the stretcher-bar.

NrrEn STATES PATEN riot JOHN W. SUTTON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

MACHINE FOR'PLUCKING PELTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 635,879, dated October 31, 1899.

Application filed September 8,189

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN W. SUTTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at. New York, borough-of Brooklyn, in the State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Plucking Pelts, of which the following is a specification.

In machines for plucking pelts as heretofore constructed rotary brushes were employed both above and below thev stretcherbar, over which the pelts were stretched and intermittently fed forward by suitable mechanism, said rotary brushes servingfor" the purpose of brushing back the soft hair or fur and separating it from the stilf water-hairs which project from that portion .of the pelt which is at the time located at the edge of the stretcher-bar. A type of such a machine is shown in the patent granted to me on April 2, 1895, No. 536,742. In the machine shown and described in said patent the brush above the stretcher-bar turns in stationary bearings, while to the brush below the stretcherbar a forward andupward motion is intermittently imparted, so as to act on the pelt These brushes have the disadvantage that their brushing action on the soft hair or fur of the pelt is more or less the same and cannot be altered or adjusted so as to suit the conditions of diflerent kinds of pelts. It has been found, however, by practical experience with various peltssuch as cony-skins, &c.--that a more delicate brushing action, or rather a beating action, should be exerted on the soft fur, so as to enable the removal of the stiff'water-hairs with less injury to the soft hair. For this purpose it is necessary that another medium than brushes formed of bristles should be employed and that this medium should be capable of adjustment, so as to exert different degrees of brushing or beating action of the soft hair, according to the character of the fur. For carrying out this object I have made certain improvements in machines for plucking pelts in which in place of the brushing action a beating action is produced, while the remaining instrumentalities are the same as those shown in my prior patent referred to; and the invention consists, therefore, in a machine for plucking pelts which comprises a stretcher-bar, a rotary beater located in one 8. Serial ma nate. mamas.)

side of the stretcher-bar, a second rotary beater located on the other side of the stretcher-bar and provided with axially and radially adjustable heaters, means for moving saidsecond beater onto and from the pelt, and means for removing the stiff water-hairs projecting from the pelt in front of the working edge of the stretcher-bar.

The invention consists, further, of the specific construction of each of the rotary beaters and the mode of adjustment of the individual beaters on the same.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a sectional side elevation showing the operating parts of my improved machine for plucking pelts in connection with my improved rotary beater-frames. Figs. 2 and 3 are plan views, drawn on a larger scale, respectively, of the upper and lower beaterframes, parts being broken out. Fig. 4; is a vertical transverse section of the upper beater-frame; and Figs. 5, 6, and 7 are vertical transverse sections of the lower beater- ,frame, showing the individual beaters adjusted to difierent relative positions, so as to exert various degrees of beating action on the hair of the pelt to be plucked.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

Referring to the drawings, A represents a stationary stretcher-bar, which is made of the usual tapering construction in cross-section, so as to form a working edge, over which the pelts are intermittently fed in the wellknown manner. The means by which the pelts are fed intermittently over the stretcher bar is not shown, as it is clearly shown and described in my prior patent, No. 536,742, before mentioned. Above the stretcher-bar is arranged a rotary beater-frame B, to which motion is imparted by a suitable belt-andpulley transmission. The upper beater-frame B is arranged at some distance back of the stretcher-bar, the shaft of the same being supported in stationary bearings A of the supporting-frame of the machine. A sec- 0nd beater-frame G is arranged below the ward the stretcher-bar and back again in connection with a guard-comb G in the same manner as in my prior patent, so that when the beater-frame is in its lowered position the guard-comb is close to the pelt, while when the beater-frame is in position to act on the lower part of the pelt the guard-comb is moved away from the pelt. The mechanism for producing the motion of the lower beaterframe and guard-comb is likewise shown in detail in the Patent No. 536,742 and is not necessary to be shown here.

The mechanism for removing the stiff hairs projecting from that portion of the pelt which is at the time in front of the working edge of the stretcher-bar consists of a vertical reciprocating cutting-knife D and a rotary cutting-knife D, the latter being provided with a brush D which is attached to the supporting-frame of the rotary knife in the same manner as in my prior patent.

As the improvement consists, mainly, in the construction and application of the rotary beater-frames, I will now describe them more in detail.

The upper beater-frame, which is shown in Figs. 2 and 4, consists of disk-shaped heads B B, that are attached to the rotary shaft I). These heads carry longitudinal rods 1) of round shape, which are bent at the ends and inserted into sockets s of the heads, said bent ends being retained in said sockets by means of clamping-screws 6. Each head is provided with a shoulder portion, so as to form a flange e, which is recessed at the circumference at a, so as to form seats for the longitudinal beater-rods I). hen the beater-rods I) are secured in position, they are moved by the rotary motion imparted to the frame quickly over the interlnittently-moving pelt at the upper side of the stretcher-bar, so as to beat or lay down the soft hair of the pelt in a uniform manner before the same is fed to the working edge of the stretcher-bar. The beaterrods have a certain spring,owing to the length of the same, so as to exert the beating action on and give to any unevenness in the {)hickness of the pelt fed over the stretcher- The lower rotary beater-frame is constructed in a different manner from the upper beaterframe, and consists of shouldered heads f, which are keyed fast to the shaft F of the frame and which carry beaters F in the nature of blades, made of sheet metal or similar stiff material, that are attached to square bars f, which turn in suitable socket-holes of the head, so that the same can be axially adjusted and retained after adjustment by suitable clamping-screws f, as shown in dotted lines in Figs. 5, 6, and '7. The individual beaters F are provided with slots at suitable distances, and set-screws f radially on the supporting-bars f, so as to make the edge of the beater-blades project beyond the circumferences of the heads or be within the same. By the axial adjustment of the beaterblades and the radial adjustment produced by the set-screws f 1 a twofold adjustment is obtained in regard to the position of the edge of the beater-blades relatively to the circumference of the heads and with each other in regard to the inclination of the beaterblades toward the radii which pass through the center of the supporting-shaft of the entire frame and the centers of the individual beater-carrying rods. In Fig. 5 the position of the heaters is shown in normal radial position, with their edges projecting slightly beyond the circumference of the heads, while in Figs. 6 and 7 they are shown respectively adjusted at a certain angle to one side or the other side of the radial planes passing through the center of the shaft and the individual bars. The beater-blades produce during their rotation a suction action on the soft hairs as they pass over the same and cause thereby the effective laying down of the soft hairs, so that when the comb is placed near the edge of the stretcher-bar it retains the soft hairs, while the stiff water-hairs are projected into the path of the cutting-knives and cut off by the same at each rotation of the rotary knife. The beater-blades act, therefore, not only by frictional contact with the hairs, but also by the air-suction as the blades move out of contact with the pelt. The stiff hairs are not subject to this suction action, and conse quently do not feel the influence of the same. The finer the soft hairs the more are they affected by the suction action of the air caused by the rotation of the beater-blades. Thus according to the position to which the beaterblades are adjusted can the influence of the same on the soft hairs be regulated, so that the beater-frames are adapted to the finest pelts for removing the water-hairs, while accomplishing at the same time the complete and reliable protection of the soft hairs of the pelt.

The operation of myimproved machine corresponds to the operation of my machine before referred to, being modified only to the extent to which the working is influenced by the peculiar action of the upper and lower beater-frames on the soft hair, in which the novel and important feature of the present construction consists.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The combination, with a fur-plucking machine, provided with a stretcher-bar, of a rotary beater-frame, composed of a shaft, heads attached to said shaft, longitudinal heaters applied to said heads, and means for adjusting said boaters in radial direction, said heaters being arranged to act on the fur back of the edge of the stretcher-bar, substantially as set forth.

2. A rotary beater-frame for a machine for plucking pelts, the said frame being com my invention I have signed my name in presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

JOHN W. SUTTON.

Witnesses:

PAUL GOEPEL, M. HENRY WURTZEL. 

